What Am I?: An Animal Guessing Game, by Iza Trapani

Trapani, Iza. What Am I?: An Animal Guessing Game. Whispering Coyote Press, 1992. 32 pages. $13.95, ISBN 1-879085-76-3

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year-olds

GENRE
Nonfiction (Animals, Guessing)

REVIEW
This is a fun book for 3 and 4 year-olds to practice their guessing skills and build up some animal knowledge.  On each right-hand side page, about six lines of description of a certain animal's appearance, habitat, and/or usual behaviors is given, followed by the question "What am I?"  An illustation of a young boy demonstrating an action mentioned in this text is included on each of the right-hand pages as well.  Once one turns the page, the name of the animal is printed in large letters, over a lively picture of the boy and the animal engaged in some activity.  Polar bears, seals, owls, and ostriches are some of the animals included.  Although some of the clues given could signify  more than one type of animal, most clues give hints that should touch on some aspect of most children's knowledge of animals.  For the way in which it makes learning and reviewing basic facts about animals fun and encourages active participation through excellent pacing, this book is recommended.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
After hearing this story at preschool storytime, children can make a paper bag puppet of their choice of animal from the book.